Confirmation

“T he grace of God is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift. ”

As we walk through life, we must do so without being sure about many things. We waken, dress and eat, go out the door into a world of mystery. We can demystify it by taking the same roads to work, doing routine things, eating the same food at the same place, and meeting and talking to the same people about the same things every day. We may do this to comfort ourselves, to settle our fears of the unexpected. Or we may bravely launch out into territory unknown to us. But either way, we can't insure that today won't be our last. We can't be certain about what people will do, how they will act, what they will buy, where they will go, and who's going to choose to do an evil act—right where we are. Life's uncertain.

Fruit goes bad in the bowl. That new shirt shrunk two sizes in the wash. The power goes off in the middle of making dinner. The car won't start. The dog is sick. Somebody called just as you got to sleep. The police are parked in front of your house.

And there are good surprises too. You fall in love with someone you've known for years as a friend. You're wife tells you she's pregnant. You're given a big raise. You finally get the hang of crossword puzzles. You read a verse in the Bible and God tells you He's here.

We live life in a story without having a script, without knowing the plot, or what happens in the end. To a great extent, we're writing the dialogue and the actions of one character, our own, and yet we can't even be certain of him or of her.

A friend of mine just came down with cancer this year, and in a few months he died at the age of 42, leaving a wonderful wife and two small kids behind. Nobody knows that kind of thing is coming. Life knocks you around pretty hard sometimes. At such times we may look up to the heavens and ask God, “Is that you doing that to me?” We need to know that God is good, and He wouldn't hurt us so badly.

God is the greatest mystery of all. He's very difficult to see—mostly we don't see Him at all. We seldom hear Him like an audible voice. In fact, we can almost avoid Him altogether if we choose. Yet real beauty, majestic landscapes, heartbreaking sunsets, the keen sweetness of loving your child, the faith and calm assurance of an aged relative who is patiently dying: these things tell us God is . The most ardent atheist faced with tragedy will raise his fist to the skies and demand to know “Why?”

God is a mystery, and the evidence we gather about Him is both wonderful and painful. If He is a mystery, we are His detectives, searching for Him, finding out about Him, trying to put together the clues we have and seeing if they make a picture that fits. When we get a new piece of the puzzle fitted in, it gives us confirmation that all our other pieces were right. We become more certain of our faith, more assured that we have the right idea.

A baby is born, knowing little of this world. We may baptize this infant, with the prayer and hope that he or she will grow in the faith we teach the child, knowing that God accepts him or her into His family and happily gives this baby His Spirit. Another birth takes place, a new life begins as the child's spirit comes alive to the things of God.

Through life, the reality of God becomes both clearer and more obscured by the things of this world. God gives many clues, but the world plays it's tunes often much louder. People who don't believe, who act badly, or events that hurt us, make a case that God may not really be there, or that He is not the kind of Being we once imagined. Life is not Teletubbies , not Mr. Rogers , not Care Bears anymore.

As we become adults, we need confirmation that what we've been taught of God— that He loves us, that He has a place in heaven for us, that He will keep us safe, that He will guide our lives —were true, and not just told to placate us and keep us quiet. We need to know for ourselves that this isn't just pretend. We need confirmation .

This we may do by spoiling the mystery, by reducing the revelation of God to a finite number of precepts: a doctrine , a set of chosen verses , a catechism , a favorite poem or famous saying . To this reduced gospel we cling, because we feel sure of this small god—he won't disappoint us.

Or we get confirmation by earnestly seeking God and finding Him in reading His Word, hearing His voice, praying regularly in faith, taking our own path to Him. Ultimately we must all do this, for there is no substitute for walking our own way to God. But the individual path may go wrong, may take an erroneous turn in ignorance that leads to false conclusions. The heresies that have plagued the Church from the beginning were begun in an earnest attempt to know God better. The historic Church learned from these mistakes and created language and Creeds to keep us from those pitfalls. We need the Church to advise us in our path, to show us the known landmarks and surer directions to take to God. And so we get our confirmation, our assurance that we've got the right God, and that He really loves us and is guiding us home.

Confirmation means several things: to ratify and make something authoritative . It also means to establish and make something strong, fortified, hardened, prevailing . A confirmed faith will weather the storms of the world, and be standing after they pass. Confirmation may also speak of courage , and of steadfastness —for in certainty of purpose, one lives bravely. Scriptures speak of these kinds of confirmations:

“He is the Lord our God… the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham… And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan… Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” 1 Chron. 16:14-22 “Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary… The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” Psalm 68:9-11 “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come… and save you… And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:3-10 “I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; …That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, …Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” Isaiah 44:24-28 The Old Testament was filled with confirmations of God's Promises. And all His promises are fulfilled in the New. “He appeared unto the eleven, …And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” Mark 16:14-20

The Navy Seal who gave his life this week for his fellow Seals by throwing himself on a live grenade showed in the ultimate way that he knew many things: that his cause was right, that he was chosen to save others, that his life counted, and that he knew his mates would have done the same for him . His courageous act confirmed these truths in a way that no one can say otherwise today without dishonoring this man's sacrifice.

We train young and older adults in the ways of faith in order for them to have the confirmation that Christianity is the truth, that Jesus is the actual savior of the world, and that the ways of our worship have a basis in Scripture and they please God. Ours aren't the only ways, but they are good. Once we have been trained, the Bishop comes to lay his hands on our heads with prayer that we may be strengthened in our faith, to live a life to the end in this truth, and that our lives count. We are empowered to serve, and God works through us.

St. Paul established churches and then went forward, but then wrote wonderful Epistles back to them, and visited them again, making sure they had not strayed from the faith. “ When they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Acts 14:21-23

To Corinth he wrote: “The grace of God is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor 1:4 Paul would be arrested, jailed, falsely accused, taken to Rome, and beheaded—but in all these circumstances never forget the Damascus road. He knew Whom he followed. He confirmed in his final Epistles what he had known from that day, which speaks to us today, which is the truth that Navy Seal died with: Our cause is right, we are chosen to save others, our lives count, and we know that our fellow believers would do the same for us.

PFH+